Blood and Sacrifice
by BlackSamurai
Summary: I knew everything except for the things that mattered, you and me. Konoha is going to war, and Shikamaru is the head strategist. He has counted every small details, he has learned everything...but ultimately he isn't sure about the ones he truly loves. Te
1. Chapter 1

War could easily be one of the ugliest words in the entire world, in any language, in any dialect and in any way. It was disgusting once someone knew what happened in war, during war, the aftermath of war… and the lives that go into it. Yet, knowing this, Shikamaru could do nothing but fight in them, he was after all the brilliant strategist, Special Jounin Shikamaru. Known to turn entire tides of combat with brilliant bouts of strategy, with such insane tactics and with tens of thousands of steps planned ahead, each carefully devised to ensure maximal survival rate and maximum success rate.

Ino knew that, she knew it so well and yet she knew she couldn't stop him from going into the Sound-Leaf War as a Commander of an entire division of ANBU. It was an all out war, Naruto would be at the point, fighting with every ounce of his being, Sakura has been appointed to the Healing Corps and would have her hands dipped in blood for the duration of the long, disgusting war. Hinata and Neji would be at the head of the Hyuuga family, directing the head and branch families accordingly. Ino knew how Hinata must've felt… Naruto was at the spearhead of the entire army and would only be accompanied by three other elite soldiers while Tsunade and Shikamaru had agreed that for everyone to survive and make it home… that the Rookie 9, the friends that have grown up together and fought together on so many different occasions… will have to be split up.

Ino knew it so well… as she was also part of an ANBU corps, Color Red. She was with Kiba and Shino, and they were, along with Color Black and Blue ANBU corps, were to strike from behind with as much power and speed as they could muster. Orochimaru and Sasuke would be at the spear point to deal with Kakashi, Naruto, Sai and Yamato… but Kabuto and his support corps would be in the rear, providing crucial support. Ino's job was to make sure the former spy was dead along with as many of his healing support units.

Ino also knew that everyone of the ANBU Corps only has a 29.6 chance of survival. Shikamaru had gotten it up from the previous percentage, a measly 9.2. She knew that only 1/3 of the possibilities would have her seeing Shikamaru again… seeing everyone again. She cried herself to sleep that night, the night before it all began, before everyone would be shipped out and have to fight with every fiber of their being… for the Fire Country… for their loved ones… for their village. She would allow herself this one night of vulnerability… for she know for the following few days, even weeks, no vulnerability must ever be shown.

Shikamaru looked at the map of Fire Country and all the terrain, he looked at list after list of people who had to go out to fight… 29.6 … that was too small, too small of a chance that he was willing to let Ino to go off like that. "If only…" He growled and slammed his fists into the table, nearly reducing it into splinters. His anger contained, he narrowed his eyes, scolding himself.

"Anger doesn't make things better… only make things worse… concentrate"

"Hey… come on. You should rest, we're going out tomorrow" The voice was strong, but also very supporting and warming.

"You know I can't leave my friends with such a pitiful chance of survival!"

"You know how war is like, you can't save everyone." She replied again, her voice more soothing than strong now.

Shikamaru's narrowed eyes started to weep with tears. "I know… I know! But…" He rests his head in his hands, the tear continuing to leak out.

"Hey…" Temari sat down next to the genius and embraced him in a warm hug. "Everyone will be fine, you did your best… you have to get some sleep. You have to be in tip top shape if you want to ensure you can think on your feet."

"Ten thousand possibilities… tens of hundreds of thousands of possibilities… and only 29.6…" Shikamaru rested in Temari's warm arm, her soothing voice and warm caress soothing the pain in his chest.

"Come on… we got one last night to relax before we set out tomorrow. I'll be with two Sand Elite CORPS, we will be assisting your CORPS remember?"

Shikamaru nodded. Gaara was able to only spend two elite CORPS along with Temari to assist Konoha but they were one of their best… according to the spreadsheets and Shikamaru's own calculations, it brought the Color ANBU Corps up another five percent, easy.

"Yea… Yea…" Shikamaru nodded. The lights went out as the genius continued to lay in Temari's arms… her embrace being the only blanket he needed.

The next morning, it was raining hard, something that Shikamaru did not predict. However it would have little impact to his calculations, a small .5 reduction on the even the Fire Jutsu specialized units. However… the rain was strange, the dark clouds seeming to reflect every emotion inside the genius.

"No time for that… I got to get to work." He was to be with Tsunade when she gave her speech to all the soldiers. He hugged Temari one last time before disappearing onto the podium, where Tsunade was in her usual attire, screaming on the top of her lungs about courage, strength and unity. She finished with the Sandaime's famous poem of the fire country and the leaves. Shikamaru smiled, remembering the old man's great poem that caused more tears that inspiration among the older ninjas.

Shikamaru then stood up to the stand, seeing all his friends and comrades, all fighting in accordance to his strategy. He opened his mouth at first, but nothing came out. He smirked pathetically then gathered up his courage again. With a booming voice, Shikamaru's words were heard across the entire army.

"Members of Konoha, today we fight what could possibly be the most deadly battles of our lives. I am sure most of you know who I am, if you do now then you sure understand that I am the one who has devised every little detail to the battle plan, and has spend weeks and many hours grueling over each little detail. However, I am not here to talk about that. I am here to tell you all how great you all look. Even in this rain, every one of you is the epitome of strength! Courage! Spirit! Family and ultimately POWER."

Shikamaru waited for the roar of the crowd settle, weapons rose into the air in unison. Naruto was the loudest of them all, rallying them even more. He continued when everyone once again started to pay attention to the Nara strategist. "However! We are not only fighting cause the Sound country is scum, not just because they threaten our country… not just because we will die. Cause as ninjas we are never, EVER afraid of death! Not even in the worst circumstances! We are only afraid of one thing, and this thing we WILL NOT allow to happen." Shikamaru roared. His voice reinforced by every strength and will in his body.

"We will not let the Sound country and that son of a bitch Orochimaru take our loved ones. We will not let him take the lives of the people that have made OUR lives bearable, amidst all the blood and combat. WE WILL NOT LET THEM TAKE WHAT IS PRECIOUS TO US! OUR LOVED ONES!"

The roar this time was deafening, everyone was cheering until their throats were raw, and by the energy of the rally, Shikamaru knew that today would be their victory.

Naruto then jumped up onto the podium, screaming at the top of his lungs. "YOSHA! BANZAI!" The traditional Japanese cheer for combat.

"Now! You know what to do gang! Let's GET TO IT!" Naruto cried one last time, winking at Shikamaru. Everyone disappeared with his or her respective squads…

The war was on. Sound was going to regret every messing with Konoha.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N:I originally meant for this to be a long, 13 chapters or so story, detailing each individual battle, a separate coupling for each… however it detracted too much from what I wanted this to be ultimately: a heart wrenching angst. I wanted it to end like this, but if I added the other chapters… the mood would be too high, too powerful and almost dreamlike. That would destroy the ultimate ending, as it is powerful in a much different sense. Maybe in the future I will write each separate battle as separate stories… but at the moment, this story will only detail the beginning… and the end.

Shikamaru ran through the trees, foliage zipping in and out of his vision quickly. His breathing was panted, his few light wounds burned and his entire being screamed of fatigue. Yet he couldn't stop, he can't stop… he had to keep on going. The battle was successful, Orochimaru's spearhead assault against Naruto's own squad was obliterated, there was now a perfectly round lake in the middle of the forest… something that Shikamaru was sure would be named after either himself or Naruto. However, none of that mattered at the moment.

Though everything on the front end was proceeding with utmost success, greater than anything Shikamaru could've planned… the rear assault had failed. Kabuto was much more powerful than Shikamaru could've planned. Not only did they have extra squadrons as protection… but one of Temari's subordinates proved traitorous. Shikamaru had streaked across the forest with two elite ANBU tailing him though both had to stop to ensure no more soldiers would tail the strategist. He was alone… and he feared the worst.

The genius cleared the trees finally and landed into a grassy clearing, burnt patches of ground and blood splattered the entire clearing. Only four people remained. Kiba and Shino lay lying across the ground, sprawled like rag dolls against separate trees, open wounds clearly evident. Ino and Temari lay against each other, back to back, holding gaping stomach wounds. The two had labored breathing, their chests heaving air in and out.

Kabuto lay on the ground next to them, his eyes staring into the sky and blood dribbling down from his mouth. He was dead… and from the looks of it, quite recently too. Shikamaru's heart soar… the situation wasn't as bad as he thought! He just had to get to administer some basic first aid to keep the four alive until Shizune or some other high level medic-nin can arrive.

Shikamaru reached into his pouch and started jogging towards Temari and Ino, their open wounds seeming much more important than Shino and Kiba… but those two were tough guys, they could take a bit more. "Temari! Ino!" He yelled, a smile evident on his face.

The smile immediately faded when Temari and Ino looked over at the same time… both with a look of despair. Their eyes pleaded something and their heads immediately shook furiously. Shikamaru caught on quickly enough and stopped in his path. A shimmering fist past right in front of the Nara boy. Shikamaru's arms quickly came up, gripping the Leaf traitor's wrist with one hand, and the other gripping the back of his neck. Using every muscle in his body and all of his weight he shoved Kabuto, face first into the ground.

"Quick reflexes… Shikamaru-Kun." The same annoying and chirpy voice said. The all-knowing tone he always had. Shikamaru wish he could shove a kunai into the man's vocal chords, just to shut him up. Though the incredible pain it would cause was a great plus.

"Shut the fuck up Kabuto." Shikamaru seethed.

"You really would think I would use such a juvenile attack on you without a back up?" Kabuto sneered.

The eyes of the strategist widened in fear. He could hear a trap spring too late. "Orochimaru-Sama is dead…" Kabuto nearly cried, his words seethed of anger… but mostly sorrow. "I will die… but not without taking your useless shit of a corpse with me! The reason Leaf won! The Nara strategist!" Kabuto's triumphant cry was clearly insane.

Shikamaru knew he had no time, he had half a second, no a quarter of a second to think of a plan and execute it in time. He had no idea what kind of trap however… it could be something simple like a kunai trap, but what if the kunai have explosive tags on them? What if they were tipped with poison? What if…

Too late, Shikamaru made his move. Forming the seals quickly, the words erupted from his mouth. "KAGE NUI!" The strands of shadow split into needles, severing and blocking each kunai that sailed towards him and Kabuto. Finally, when all the weapons were safely deflected and discerned with no explosive tags, his eyes focused back on Kabuto.

Instead of the man lying on his stomach, restrained by Shikamaru… the strategist instead saw a foot sailing into his face. Blood immediately flowed freely from his nose and he could feel his jaw crack. The pain was nearly unbearable but it did not deter the ninja from his goal.

Landing on his feet, Shikamaru formed seals again. "Kage mane No Jutsu!" he roared, his shadow stretching and quickly grapping the enraged Kabuto. The man was not thinking properly, was not fighting properly… all of his moves were based on anger and rage.

"This is your loss Kabuto." Forming different seals this time, Shikamaru made the last move. "Kage Kubi Shibari No Jutsu!" Black hands started stretching up towards the man's neck, the grip from the shadowy hands tightening as they reached their target. And finally was tightly gripping the Leaf traitor's neck.

"My loss… and yours!" Kabuto sneered and pulled another string. Shikamaru knew this time… the trap was not for him. It was for the two girls propped up against each other so perfectly, unable to move or to defend themselves, Kabuto's neck snapped t same moment the trap triggered. Kage Nui would be pointless at this moment, for it would take too long for the shadow tendrils to travel the distance… Shikamaru did the one thing he knew. He turned towards the girls and jumped with all the force and chakra in his feet. He nearly cracked the earth doing so, but the extra speed would ensure his success.

Everything seemed to move slowly at the moment, Kabuto's corpse slowly collapsing to the ground, the dust clearing from Shikamaru's huge burst of speed, the kunais slowly flinging towards Temari and Ino… and their eyes slowly opening to see their worst nightmare come true.

Shikamaru knew this plan would have a 100 success… and he knew he wouldn't have chose any other plan that had any smaller chance. After all… the kunais might have been poisoned. He smiled down at the two girls, his body impaled by a dozen metal weapons.

"Troublesome… so damn troublesome… God damn women…" He coughed some blood onto their beautiful blonde hair… it was like a sin to him, tarnishing their beautiful hair.

"Shikamaru!" Both voices shrieked into the forest. The two got up immediately and laying him on his side. Their eyes filled with tears, their cries of horrors muted inside Shikamaru's eyes. Everything seemed to slowly fade from the Nara boy. Sound was becoming harder and harder to hear… feelings in his body… even the two gorgeous beauties holding his hands felt numb to the touch. His chest started to heave more and more with blood… but he still felt so cold, so very, very cold. His vision continued to blur more and more. He knew he should've gotten glasses… He coughed again, blood splattering his lips and dribbling down the side of his cheek. Yet the smile from his face didn't fade… he just kept on looking on the blurry visions of Temari and Ino, both crying… but both so damn beautiful… yet so damn troublesome. They were crying too much… the tears didn't look good on them. Even through his blurred vision he could tell. His hands came up weakly to brush away their tears, he tried to talk but his vocal chords didn't have the strength. His mouth moved, forming the words that the two recognized.

"I… love you… both" He immediately coughed up more blood, tarnishing his green flak vest and covering the girl's clothes a bit more.

The 200 IQ Strategist, the genius that ensured a victory with limited casualties in the Leaf-Sound war died for the women he loved. The lake created during the battle was named Round Deer Lake, in honor of the man. Temari and Ino had not met with another man romantically since and they visit the grave of the man they loved… every day. Shikamaru had died smiling and his closest friends knew… he wouldn't have gone any other way but protecting the ones he loved.

AN: Read and Review, it makes me happy.


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